48 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



Mr Eeid's letter containing some of the results of 1869 

 has already appeared in print, in connection with our own 

 halance-sheet, which appears annually : — 



" Caeluke, 5tk Oct 1869. 

 " My dear old Friend, — I beg to be excused for not 

 replying to your note sooner, but I waited till I got my 

 bees home from the moors, and the honey taken from 

 them. I jarred it aU up yesterday, and find that out of 

 ten hives we have taken upwards of 400 lb. of honey. 

 The heaviest hive was 120J lb., two or three of them 

 about 90 lb. each, the rest from 60 lb. to 70 lb. each. 

 We had three boxes of honeycomb, which realised 27s.; 

 and one second swarm, 80 lb. weight, was sold for £2, 2s. 

 The above is the produce of six stock-hives ; so you see 

 the bees have done weU with us this season. — Yours 

 truly, E. E." 



In 1869, the heaviest swarm in the parish was 128 

 lb. And an old widowed aunt of the author got 250 

 lb. of honey from four stocks. 



These facts and figures are quoted with the view of 

 stimulating the attention of bee-keepers generally. We 

 are of opinion that agricultural and horticultural exhibi- 

 tions do more to advance the sciences of farming and 

 gardening than the teaching of books and periodicals ; 

 and we fancy that example, even in bee-keeping, is better 

 than precept. When we resolved to write a book on bees 

 for pubKcation, we sent the following three questions to 

 bee-keepers in many counties : 1. What is the general 

 size of hives used in your county ? 2. What time does 

 swarming commence ? 3. In good seasons what weight 

 are first swarms at harvest-time 1 



Our correspondent near Norwich, in Norfolk, says : 

 " The hives here are rather smaller than usual ; the middle 



